Apollo In Love
by Lightning Bolts and Pine Trees
Summary: Y'all may hate me but I saw serious Thapllo potential in the last TOA. So just a bunch of Thalia and Apollo oneshots. Disclaimer, I usually do Thalia and Luke, but this was too cute to pass up, just some midnight type ideas.
1. Chapter 1

He watched as Thalia shot a few practice shots, sure the girl had talent for just leaving his sister's band of followers, but there were a few errors she made. He was tempted to walk over and show her, but he figured he wouldn't be able to fluster her like Apollo did, at least there was no way he'd fluster her as Lester. Lester was rather unimpressive in the looks department; he missed his golden locks, his grass green eyes, and more importantly his six pack abs. He hated Lester's ridiculous case of acne, though Thalia told him it's nothing compare to other teens, he hated Lester's flab, once again Thalia asked him where it was, and he hated Lester's dark brown, curly locks, Thalia told him to be grateful Zeus didn't turn him into an old man. Over the past few months, he'd spent a lot of time with Thalia, Meg even accused him of developing a crush, but what would Meg know about that?

Apollo seemingly missed his mark because Thalia started packing up her things and walking toward him. She seemed sad when he encountered her in Indianapolis, so it didn't come as a shock when she stepped down from her position, Artemis didn't seemed surprised because she didn't smite Thalia. Thalia claimed she missed her brother, and she wanted to catch up on everything she'd missed out on, but Apollo felt like there was something else behind her departure. Even after completing his father's ridiculous repentance, Zeus wouldn't call him back up to Olympus, so he was stuck for gods know how much longer as Lester. Thalia plopped down on the grass beside him and tossed her bow and quiver to the side.

"You know my sister blesses you guys to be good at that right?" Apollo asked, arching his eyebrows.

Thalia laughed, "Yeah, but it's just kind of discouraging to not be as good as I was."

"There were a few mistakes you made, I can get Kayla to help you out if you'd like." Apollo offered, knowing she'd probably laugh at him if he offered to help her. He knew he was no longer impressive, the sun god she thought was hot so many years ago. In fact, he knew she liked tall, buff, blonde guys, Aphrodite fated her with never being able to get over Luke Castellan.

"It's literally no big deal, but I need to start working with my spear again. I haven't used it in years." She shrugged.

Apollo arched his eyebrows, "You fight with a spear?"

"Yeah, apparently Zeus decided to send me a spear, I prefer swords though." Thalia nodded. Apollo knew Thalia had a sword, Hermes had given it to her a few summers back, but he doubted Thalia couldn't look at the sword, much less use it, without a painful torrent of memories.

Beside his children, Thalia didn't seemed phased by him, something he welcomed, he wondered if he was allowed to consider Thalia a friend. She'd saved his butt a few times in Indianapolis, and he had really gotten to know her since she came back to Camp Half Blood. The truth behind her departure from the Hunt definitely wasn't just about her brother, he felt like there was something else hidden in there. He had to admit, with her dark hair and intense blue eyes, Apollo had never seen beauty like that before. Something about her just drew him toward her, whether he was aware of it or not, he cursed Aphrodite for toying with his brain, Thalia would never find him impressive.

"Are you going to the sing-along?" Apollo asked hopefully. He figured he could try asking Thalia to hang out, just the two of them. As much as he loved signing and leading the bonfires with his children, he was tempted to just chill with Thalia.

She nodded, "Kind of required, are you leading the sing-along again?"

The way she smirked at him, almost led Apollo to believe that she was possibly flirting with him. His heart fluttered at the thought, something Apollo hadn't felt for a long time. He tried for a suave smirk, but he didn't know what it looked like on Lester's face, "I could let Will lead if you don't want me to."

"I mean you could let Will lead it." She laughed, in the distance the dinner horn rang through the valley. He cursed the timing, he was just starting to get Thalia to flirt with him. She pushed herself up and brushed off a few blades of grass, waiting for him to start walking. They walked to the pavilion together, close enough for Apollo to feel her warmth, her hand brushed against his a few times, and he wondered if it had been an accident, or if Thalia was just messing with him. As she walked toward the Zeus table, she looked over her shoulder and waved at him, leaving him standing there with a dumb smile on his face.

"Hey, Apollo, what's up?" Will asked as he and Nico walked in with Austin and Kayla. All of them were staring at Apollo curiously, who was still smiling like an idiot. He rubbed the back of his neck and noticed Will raise his eyebrows.

"I think he was talking to Thalia again." Nico smirked.

Will chuckled lightheartedly, "You know, I could write you a doctor's not that says you have to sit at the Zeus table."

"You could?" Apollo asked, hoping he wasn't letting his desperation show. He would love an excuse to be that close to Thalia. Thunder rumbled in the distance causing the small group surrounding him to laugh. Thalia looked over at him and smiled again before sitting down at her table with Jason, who didn't seem to like Apollo all that much.

"It would be just like Nico's." Will smirked, earning him a punch in the arm from the son of Hades. Apollo didn't need a doctor's note, he walked over to the Zeus table, plopped down next to Thalia, and earned a slight frown from Jason.

Thalia turned toward Apollo and raised her eyebrows, "What are you doing over here?"

"Probably breaking like a thousand rules, but there was something I wanted to ask you." Apollo squeaked, he was trying for suave and nonchalant, but he got squeaky and terrified. He'd never been this nervous to talk to a girl before, and Thalia's intense blue eyes weren't helping.

Thalia smiled, "What would that be?"

He hesitated, and one of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin, Piper, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Ask her out already!"

There was a loud cheer from the Apollo table, and Jason looked like he wanted to strangle Apollo and wish him luck at the same time. Thalia smirked at him, "Well, go on then."

"W-would you like to um go out some time?" Apollo asked, it had taken him a moment to find his voice. Thunder rumbled, apparently Zeus wasn't too happy with the question, but everyone else at camp seemed rather content with the idea, even Chiron was suppressing a smile. Meg rolled her eyes and mouthed 'finally' before giving him a thumbs up.

Thalia pretended like she was thinking for a moment, but after a second she nodded, "I'd love to, maybe you can give me those archery pointers you were hinting at earlier."

He could feel his face coloring, and he tried to get up to leave, but Thalia pulled him back down, "Where are you going? I have a doctor's note that says you're supposed to do everything with me."

She flashed him a piece of paper in Will's handwriting done in what looked like crayon, but Apollo couldn't help but laughing. Without needing to be told twice, Apollo took his seat next to Thalia, making sure Jason didn't want to kill him. Thalia interlaced her fingers with his under the table, and Apollo had never felt his heart beat as fast when she kissed him on the cheek after he walked her back to her cabin after the sing along. Maybe Apollo was wrong about Lester being unimpressive, whatever the case, he nearly passed out from the fact that Thalia Grace had just kissed him on the cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

Not long after Apollo started dating Thalia, Zeus decided to complicate things in the form of a certain 6'3" son of Hermes with gorgeous sandy hair, toned muscles, and dazzling blue eyes; everything Lester wasn't. He stared at himself in the mirror; his acne seemed to be having a good day, but compare to Luke's chiseled features he had a butterface and of course his height was nowhere near 6'3", he topped out at 6'0" on a good day. His curly dark hair was unruly, he couldn't get it into his signature manbun, but he figured even if he could it would look ridiculous. Standing without a shirt on made him cringe at himself; his skin was pasty, his muscles were beginning to gain definition, but they weren't his washboard abs. Compared to Luke Castellan, Apollo looked like he'd just crawled out of a demogorgon's lair in the Upsidedown. Thalia had made him start watching Stranger Things, and of course Apollo took an instant liking to Steve.

There was a soft knock on his door, he hurriedly pulled a sleeveless t-shirt over his head and turned to find Thalia standing there, ready for a day at the beach. It was rare that they got free time, but Chiron declared that week a week for them to do what they pleased. Thalia wore a pair of black jean shorts and a black tank top over her favorite black high-waisted bikini. Her galaxy print canvas backpack was thrown over her shoulder and she carried a separate bag full of beach essentials. She set her bags down and walked over to his dresser, leaning against it. Suddenly he felt self-conscious about going to the beach; everyone there was going to be buff and tanned and of course gorgeous, Apollo had little show as Lester.

"Do you really want to go to the beach?" Apollo sighed, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

She laughed and nodded, "Yeah, it's going to be loads of fun. Leo's going to grill out."

Well, at least compared to Leo and Nico, Lester didn't look so scrawny, but standing next to Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and of course Luke Castellan, he left something to be desired. He wondered if Thalia only stayed with him because she pitied him, because she felt like no other girl would want to date someone as unimpressive as Lester. He could feel her arms snake around his neck and her lips pressed against his lightly.

"It's loads of fun when I was hot." Apollo muttered, pulling away from Thalia, turning toward his own beach bag. He'd never had to use so much SPF 50 in his life, the one thing Apollo embodied, the sun, seemed to be one of his greatest enemies at the beach. He couldn't even get a sun tan, let alone impress his gorgeous girlfriend.

Thalia sighed, managing to weasel herself between him and his dresser where his backpack sat, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled, "How many times do I have to tell you that your abs don't mean a thing to me?"

"Until I actually believe it. I've seen your reaction to Chris Hemsworth when we watched Thor." Apollo muttered. Apollo remembered when he looked like Chris Hemsworth, he really missed his good looks. Despite all the times Thalia had told him that she didn't care about washboard abs, chiseled features, or manbuns, Apollo had yet to believe it. He just felt horrible about himself since dear Zeus cast him off Olympus.

"You're going to the beach, you'll have fun, I promise." Thalia smiled, "Beside, Chris Hemsworth is an actor, you don't have to worry about him sweeping me off my feet anytime soon."

Her voice washed over him like honey, and he found himself smiling for the first time that day. He leaned down, thankful that Thalia was only 5'7", and pressed his lips to hers. Her lips moved against his and caused him to feel lightheaded, he didn't want their moment to end, but another knock at the door caused Thalia to pull away from him. Will and Nico were standing there, ready for their day in the sun, smirking at the couple.

"Are you two coming or are you just going to makeout all day?" Nico smirked, earning him an eye roll from Thalia and a glare from Apollo. He whimpered slightly when Thalia untangled herself from his arms and went to retrieve her bags. Apollo quickly threw a few more things into his own bag and ran after Thalia who was following Will and Nico out the front of the cabin. Much to Apollo's dismay when they arrived at the beach, despite Leo's amazing set up, Luke, Jason, Frank, and Percy were all tossing around a football, shirtless, tanned, and dripping with seawater. Apollo grimaced as he approached the cabanas Leo had set up. Leo was whistling and grilling away while Calypso, Annabeth, Piper, Rachel, Reyna, and Hazel sat under the cabanas reading, drawing, and giggling.

Annabeth looked up from her book and grinned, before running over to Thalia and crushing her in a giant bear hug, "I'm so happy to see you! I haven't seen you in months!"

"I know, I'm going to be sticking around this summer, so you'll get to see a lot of me before you and Percy run off to college again in the fall." Thalia grinned, she still had her fingers interlaced with his and he was actually kind of happy that she didn't let go of his hand.

"You've got to meet Magnus, he's been itching to meet all of my friends after meeting Percy." Annabeth grinned, then she looked at Apollo, "He wants to meet you too, his father is basically the Norse you. I think you'll get along really well."

Thalia spoke for both of them, "We'd love to meet Magnus, just give me the time and place and we'll be there."

"Great! Leo's grilling burgers, and I'm not usually a burger person but they smell amazing." Annabeth grinned. Apollo let go of Thalia's hand and wandered off toward the cabana where Will and Nico were applying sunscreen, Will making sure that Nico was applying it correctly and thoroughly. Thalia looked over at him and frowned, but he smiled at her and gestured for her to go hang out with her friends. She waved at him before Annabeth pulled her off toward the other girls giggling in the cabana, no doubt all giggling about their buff, gorgeous boyfriends.

"Dude, your jealousy is showing." Leo quipped as he walked over, leaving the grill to pilot itself.

Apollo grumbled as he pulled his sunscreen out of his bag, "Shut up Valdez."

"As a fellow scrawny guy, I'll admit its a bit tough hanging around a bunch of hot buff guys, but in the end I know Calypso chose me over any of the other buff dudes. Thalia's into you man, I don't think I've seen her smile that much before." Leo shrugged, giving Apollo a knowing smile.

Apollo shook his head, "Why do I have to look like this?" he gestured to his entire body, flab and all, "Why can't I look like that?" he pointed to Luke who was jumping in the air to catch a pass that Percy overshot.

Leo chuckled, "Aye, you're not used to being one of us scrawny fellas, it's not so bad is it Nico?"

"I could care less." The son of Hades rolled his eyes and went back to rubbing sunscreen in all of Will's appointed places.

"You better be wearing sunscreen Spock!" He shouted at Leo, tossing him a bottle of SPF 30. Leo laughed and applied some to his shoulders and nose before tossing the bottle back to Will.

Leo looked back at Apollo, "Don't waste too much time comparing yourself to Luke Castellan, because in the end you're the one with the girl, he's not."

Without another word, Leo went back to his grill, where Calypso had decided to join him. Annabeth was building a sand castle, more like a sand fort with Piper, Jason and Percy were wrestling in the water. Frank and Hazel were strolling down the beach hand in hand, Rachel was braiding Reyna's hair. Will and Nico were playing Myth-o-Magic under one of the cabanas, and then Apollo spotted Luke talking to Thalia down by the shore as she looked for beach glass. Anger bubbled inside him as he watched Luke making Thalia laugh at some stupid joke, but he kept his anger controlled as he walked toward them.

"Find anything?" Apollo asked, wrapping his arms around Thalia's waist from behind.

She turned and smiled at him, "Yeah, I found a blue one, Luke was helping me look."

He kissed her cheek, gauging Luke's reaction out of his peripheral, "Sounds like fun."

"Man, Thalia you have to go to this beach that's completely made of beach glass." Luke grinned, "We'll have to make a road trip out there sometime."

Thalia laughed, it sounded like nervous laughter, "Maybe, but I feel like the beach glass wouldn't be as special. You wouldn't have to search for it."

Apollo wished he could smite Luke on the spot for flirting with his girlfriend, but he wrapped his arms around her waist tighter and pulled her closer. She kissed his cheek, letting him know that everything's alright, but he was still apprehensive about letting go. He eventually let his arms fall from around her waist, when Percy and Jason called up to them.

"Hey you guys, why don't you come join us?!" Percy called, waving at them to join them in the the water.

Luke looked at Apollo and shrugged, saying goodbye to Thalia and jogging off toward the water. Apollo still hadn't removed his shirt, as much as he wanted to show Luke up in a wrestling match, feeling Thalia's fingers curl around his made him content with staying at the shore to look for beach glass with his girlfriend. He thanked Percy for his offer, which earned him a grin from Thalia and a shrug from Percy who went back to wrestling Jason, and Luke tried to keep things fair.

Thalia and Apollo walked along the beach, hand in hand, she'd kind of given up on looking for anymore beach glass, "You know you don't have to worry about Luke, right?"

"What makes you think I'm worried about him?" Apollo scoffed, trying act miffed that she would even think he was threatened by Luke Castellan.

She stopped walking and set her pail by her feet, "You get all possessive and pouty whenever Luke's around. I think I know your temperament well enough to know you're not like that. If I wanted to be with Luke, I wouldn't have stayed with you. He's just a friend."

Apollo looked into her eyes, looking for any hint that she might be lying, but he couldn't find any, "You're telling the truth."

She laughed and threw her arms around his neck, "Of course I'm telling you the truth, stupid! Gods you can be so dense sometimes. Stop worrying about your lost abs, I think you're perfect."

"Flattery will get you nowhere Thalia." Apollo murmured before pressing his lips to hers. She stood on her tip toes, something he'd always found cute about her, and pulled him closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and felt the dizziness sink in. He'd been dizzy before, but this was a good dizzy; the kind where he didn't know left from right, up from down, but he knew he was stupidly happy. The need for oxygen caused Thalia to pull away, earning a slight whimper from him and she smirked slightly. She picked up her pail and offered him her hand, he gladly obliged and laced his fingers with hers, continuing their walk down the beach. Maybe Apollo wasn't model gorgeous, but he had the girl.


End file.
